Research and Development

NORMA Group's research and development activities are geared towards identifying technological trends early and implementing them strategically. This is intended to optimally support the achievement of the company's strategic objectives. The focus is on developing innovative products and system solutions to tap into new markets, attract new customer groups, and secure technological market leadership. When evaluating new technologies, NORMA Group pursues an approach that examines their potential for optimizing existing processes, reducing material usage, improving functionalities, and enhancing the sustainability of end products. The goal is to create added value for customers. The focus is on high-quality, innovative solutions for the global challenges of the respective end markets. In addition to specific market and customer requirements, efficient resource utilization and environmental protection play a key role. NORMA Group's R&D departments act as a central group function and support the strategic business units Industry Applications and Mobility & New Energy. This enables efficient, cross-regional collaboration between the teams. Furthermore, development activities are closely integrated with the business development teams, consisting of sales and application engineering. The strong global focus of the business units helps to handle tasks in a targeted and efficient manner. At the same time, the prioritization of topics and projects continues to follow strategic guidelines, for example, through the Innovation Council and Global Product Management.

Focus on innovations

NORMA Group's research and development activities focus on securing and strengthening its innovative capacity through the creation of innovative technologies, solutions, and products. Therefore, the systematic planning and implementation of new and further development projects are central. Monitoring strategically important end markets and integrating the acquired knowledge into the internal innovation process are shared responsibilities of the Foresight Manager and Global Product Management.

In fiscal year 2025, NORMA Group further implemented its innovation and development processes. The development process, restructured the previous year with newly defined interfaces to manufacturing engineering and industrialization, is being consistently utilized. This increases efficiency in product development, from the initial product idea and identified concept to the final, fully developed design ready for offering. The increased use of technologies, including numerical simulations, and close collaboration within the global R&D organization contribute to greater consistency while simultaneously reducing the number of interfaces and shortening development times ("time to market"). This creates additional added value for NORMA Group's customers.

Numerical simulation and validation of new technologies

NORMA Group is committed to integrating future-driven technologies, identified by global megatrends, into product development and design. Mathematical models and numerical simulations play a crucial role in the efficient development and optimization of new product concepts, particularly in the early development phases. The new perspective on physical mechanisms gained through simulation improves the understanding of products and processes, enabling more targeted and efficient product development and optimization. This significantly reduces the number of experimental optimization loops and development time. Furthermore, it contributes to reducing resource consumption and CO₂ emissions. Ideally, the final experimental validation of new products confirms the product properties previously determined through simulation. Simulations thus ensure that products, technologies, materials, and manufacturing processes meet market requirements and are therefore an essential component of product development.

Strategic collaboration with customers and research institutions

Within the Industry Applications strategic business unit, NORMA Group's customer requirements focus on high quality, a strong brand image, and the availability of products across a comprehensive range. A new approach for NORMA Group involves the increased integration of individualized product development. Specific customer requirements are thus brought more sharply into focus. Identifying and understanding individual customer applications reveals potential for optimizing the existing product portfolio and, moreover, generates potential new momentum. NORMA Group aims to develop new product lines adapted to individual customer needs and new market demands.

The strategic business unit Mobility & New Energy is characterized by NORMA Group's close collaborations with its end customers, leading research and development institutions, suppliers, and other external partners. This allows customer requirements to be directly incorporated into the development of new products and technologies. In fiscal year 2025, activities focused primarily on customer-specific solutions in fluid-handling and fastening technology.

Development focuses in 2025

The main focus areas in product development and product enhancement in the 2025 fiscal year were digitalization, heating and installation technology, stationary energy storage systems, and electromobility.

In the Industry Applications strategic business unit, the area of alternative energy generation and storage is a key trend. This includes, for example, the equipping of cooling systems in energy storage facilities. NORMA Group products support the temperature control of stationary batteries in this context. The field of white goods also represents further application areas in industry and adapted product application areas. NORMA Group's new approach in Industry Applications involves building new business directly with manufacturers (OEMs) of machinery and equipment from various industries, in addition to the traditional distribution channel via distributors. The Group

is focusing on continuously acquiring new customers in relevant markets by leveraging its in-house development expertise and expanding its market position in Industry Applications in the medium term.

Within the Mobility & New Energy strategic business unit, the thermal management of batteries and systems remains a key focus in the field of electromobility. For this purpose, NORMA Group develops, for example, specialized line systems used in the thermal management systems of hybrid and electric vehicles. These systems ensure a uniform temperature distribution within the battery and maintain the optimal operating condition of the cells. The consistent application of numerical simulation has led to the development of fluid components and systems with minimal flow resistance, resulting in increased efficiency and resource conservation. In 2025, development efforts focused not only on new product solutions but also on the transfer of existing product concepts between NORMA Group's strategic business units. Continuous product improvement with regard to standardization, robustness, and weight reduction is also a key consideration.

Know-how protected by patents

A key success factor for NORMA Group is its specific expertise in joining technology. For this reason, the Group protects its innovations with corresponding patents. As of December 31, 2025, a total of 642 patents and utility models were held (2024: 719²). In fiscal year 2025, NORMA Group recorded 23 (2024: 25¹) invention applications and 40 (2024: 41¹) new patent applications. The decrease compared to the previous year is primarily due to the sale of the Water Management business.